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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28797240">i'll see you on the other side</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ranger_NJoyC/pseuds/Ranger_NJoyC'>Ranger_NJoyC</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Fablehaven Series - Brandon Mull</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>COTTG SPOILERS, Gen, cottg au</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 09:07:22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,465</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28797240</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ranger_NJoyC/pseuds/Ranger_NJoyC</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>"AU where instead of Kendra throwing fruit at Ronodin, she walks up and gives him a hug that he desperately needs" prompt by @fablehavenfangirl on tumblr</p><p>In which Ronodin gets the much-needed hug he deserves and Kendra questions her perception of the world.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Ronodin &amp; Kendra Sorenson</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>23</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>i'll see you on the other side</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p></p><div class="">
  <p></p>
  <div class="">
    <p>“What are you doing here?” Kendra demanded, storming up to Ronodin. He smirked at her and quirked an eyebrow.</p>
  </div>
  <div class="">
    <p>“Only what one might expect.”</p>
  </div>
  <div class="">
    <p>Kendra took a deep breath and calmed her fury. It wouldn’t do any good to let her emotions get the best of her. “Where is my brother?”</p>
  </div>
  <div class="">
    <p>Ronodin frowned and for once he looked like he didn’t know the answer. “I’m assuming that’s why you’re here?”</p>
  </div>
  <div class="">
    <p>Kendra looked into his eyes. They were dark and mischievous, twinkling in the brightly lit room. Kendra’s hand twitched and she longed to throw a punch at the dark unicorn who had taken her brother from her and done so much evil. She paused-</p>
  </div>
  <div class="">
    <p>“Why are you like this?” she asked, allowing a little bit of desperation to leak into her voice. She wasn’t a super talented actor, and she knew it was dangerous to try and fool a master con artist, but she hoped her anger with him was real enough for him to believe her. She needed him to talk, she needed to know what he knew and anything that could help lead her to Seth.</p>
  </div>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Ronodin shot her a dry smile and strolled around her. He picked up a piece of fruit from the bowl on the table and examined it. “What ever do you mean?”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Kendra crossed her arms over her chest. “This. All of this. Why are you so evil? What are you even trying to do? What’re you playing at?”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Ronodin fell silent for a minute and Kendra worried she had overdone it. When he spoke, it was in such a low tone, Kendra had to strain to hear his words.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“I wasn’t always like this.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>In the back of Kendra’s mind, she knew it was a trick. A deception to get her to lower her guard. But in that moment, all she could think about was how upset the dark unicorn looked. Then she shook herself. This was her enemy, trying to play her. She quickly threw out all thoughts of pity she had towards Ronodin. He didn’t deserve her pity.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Ronodin continued. “I wasn’t always ‘evil,’ as you so delicately put it.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“What do you mean? You are evil.” Kendra couldn’t stop herself from interrupting. He shot her a look of mild annoyance.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“No, that’s where you’re wrong. What I do is not evil. I am not evil. You only think I’m evil because you’ve been taught that light is good and darkness is bad. You’ve found yourself allied with the light, with the source. You think that makes you good. You also believe that makes me automatically evil. Take your brother, for example. He’s dark, he’s allied with the darkness. Yet he’s not ‘evil’ in your books?”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Kendra opened her mouth to argue. It wasn’t the same at all. Seth was a good person at heart and he had chosen to do good with his powers, unlike Ronodin. She started to say as much, but he cut her off.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Yes, yes. I may have done things you consider ‘evil’ or ‘manipulative.’ But I assure you, you find yourself on the wrong side of history, Kendra. Do you really think it’s right to be locking up dragons like this? Maybe you did before, maybe you used to think it was okay to keep dragons in sanctuaries, and you did everything you could to keep them there. I respect that. But- answer me honestly- looking at this preserve, can you call this ‘just’ or ‘good’? This isn’t light triumphing over darkness anymore, it’s light becoming the darkness it tried to hard to stop.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Kendra didn’t speak, she didn’t have to. Ronodin was right. The way Titan Valley was being run was not right, and it was not good.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“You may find yourself trying to keep dragons in sanctuaries. But can you still consider yourself to be ‘good’ if you do so? What I’m trying to say, Kendra, is I am not evil. I simply work to be just. I am a freelancer, I ally with the good side of history. Right now, that is the dragons’ side. I’ve seen things, witnessed things. I’ve been crushed and destroyed and broken and it has made me all the wiser for it. The Fairy Queen isn’t the saint you imagine her to be. The Fairy Queen- your queen, your savior. Do you even know what she’s done? She may be the queen of a species that is light. That doesn’t make her good. That doesn’t make you good.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Kendra stayed silent. She didn’t know what else to do. Ronodin had started pacing halfway through his speech, and he came to a halt in front of her.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Do you understand?”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Kendra nodded. “You’re right.” She swallowed thickly. “But even if nothing is ‘evil’ by nature, you still did- and continue to do- horrible things. You- you took my brother away from me.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Ronodin tilted his head to the side. “Has anyone ever taught you how to use your powers?” he asked suddenly.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Kendra was caught off-guard. “What? Um, no.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>A flash of anger crossed his face. “Have you wanted to learn?”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>The truth came out of Kendra before she had even realized what she said. “Definitely.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Ronodin smiled bitterly. “I didn’t take your brother, you see. I helped him. He’ll come back to you eventually, and when he does, you’ll see. He is much more powerful than before. He knows how to use his shadow charmer abilities now, his skills will be very helpful to you.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>A thought flashed through Kendra’s mind before she even had time to process it. A hopeful expression unconsciously formed on her face before she wiped it clean and scolded herself for even wishing it.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>But the dark unicorn had seen her expression. “I’m afraid not,” he said, rocking back on his heels. “I don’t know how to. If I could, I would, but I’m afraid not.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Kendra tried not to feel disappointed. After all, she would’ve never accepted help from him, even if she wanted to learn.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“This brings me back to my original question,” Kendra pressed. “Why did you turn dark? What happened?”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>A flash of pain shot through Ronodin’s eyes. If she had blinked, she would’ve missed it.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“There’s a lot you don’t know about your precious Fairy Queen,” he eventually said in a low voice.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Kendra stepped forward hesitantly. She had seen the hurt in his eyes. It had been real, that kind of pain couldn’t be faked. He was hurting, he always had been. She just hadn’t seen it before. She thought about him for one more second. He didn’t have anyone to lean on. He didn’t have any friends, family, nobody. Like he said, he was a freelancer, changing with the tides, millions of different faces. He worked for nobody and he trusted nobody to do his work for him.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>He might be her mortal enemy, but at that moment, all Kendra saw was a broken teen, desperately in need of reassurance.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>She stepped even closer and tentatively wrapped her arms around the dark unicorn. He stiffened at the contact and inhaled sharply.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“What are you doing?” he said flatly.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Kendra pulled back for a second. “It’s called a hug,” she explained in a ‘no-duh’ voice. “You give it to people who need it.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Ronodin shrugged, looking away. “I don’t need any pity from you.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Kendra pulled him back into the hug, fiercer this time. “It’s not pity,” she murmured into his ear. “But everyone needs a hug now and again.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Ronodin stayed still for a moment before slowly leaning into Kendra’s hug and holding her back. After a minute, she pulled away. Ronodin had a genuine- if slightly puzzled- smile on his face.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Thanks.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Any time.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Ronodin lifted an eyebrow in her direction. Kendra amended her statement. “Well, no. This is kind of a one-time thing, but you get the idea.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Ronodin continued to softly smile.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Take care of yourself, Ronodin. I won’t say we’re any less of enemies now than we were before we saw each other today, because we’re still enemies. Unless you want to join our side?” Kendra said.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Ronodin shook his head. “I’d like to stay on the right side of history, thank you for the offer though. But I work alone.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Kendra shrugged. “Thought as much. But hey- if you ever come to a sudden realization that your on the wrong side, come let me know.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Ronodin stared at the ground for a second before answering. “I don’t think there is a ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ side to this war.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Maybe your right. I guess we’ll see.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Ronodin gave Kendra a half-salute as she started walking towards the door. “See you on the other side of the war.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“See you on the other side,” she echoed.</p>
</div>
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